Books published by Cornell University Press

This book brings together a distinguished group of scholars in essays that focus on the wartime sections of War and Peace. Approaching the novel from different disciplines, they wrestle with the book's great themes.

The roots of Japan's aggressive, expansionist foreign policy have often been traced to its concern over acute economic vulnerability. Michael A. Barnhart tests this assumption by examining the events leading up to World War II in the context of Japan's quest for economic security, drawing on a wide array of Japanese and American sources.Barnhart focuses on the critical years from 1938 to 1941 as he investigates the development of Japan's drive for national economic self-sufficiency and independence and the way in which this drive shaped its internal and external policies. He also explores American economic pressure on Tokyo and assesses its impact on Japan's foreign policy and domestic economy. He concludes that Japan's internal political dynamics, especially the bitter rivalry between its army and navy, played a far greater role in propelling the nation into war with the United States than did its economic condition or even pressure from Washington. Japan Prepares for Total War sheds new light on prewar Japan and confirms the opinions of those in Washington who advocated economic pressure against Japan.

Situating the French Revolution in the context of early modern globalization for the first time, this book offers a new approach to understanding its international origins and worldwide effects.

This troubling book offers a striking illustration of how history can be used and abused-how a gifted individual can create their own self-serving version of the past.

Struggle for Empire explores the contest for kingdoms and power among Charlemagne's descendants that shaped the formation of Europe through the reign of Charlemagne's grandson, Louis the German (826-876).

Between 1973 and 1980, the cost of crude oil rose suddenly and dramatically, precipitating convulsions in international politics. Conventional wisdom holds that international capital markets adjusted automatically and remarkably well: enormous amounts...

Third edition of the classic field guide, with a new illustration program, published with the support of the Asa Wright Nature Centre in commemoration of more than 40 years of excellence in conservation.

The Dutch involvement in North America started after Henry Hudson, sailing under a Dutch flag in 1609, traveled up the river that would later bear his name. The Dutch control of the region was short-lived, but had profound effects on the Hudson Valley...

Corpses mark surrealism's path through the twentieth century, providing material evidence of the violence in modern life. Though the shifting group of poets, artists, and critics who made up the surrealist movement were witness to total war...

Taking a look at the diverse nationalities inhabiting western provinces and the Kingdom of Poland during an era of intensifying national feeling, this book shows that the Russian government, even at the height of its empire, never came to terms with the question of nationality.

Why did the imperial Russian government fail to prevent revolution in 1917? Were its security policies flawed? This broadly researched study of Russia's security police investigates the government's efforts to maintain order against political opposition and threats of violence during the decade before the Revolution.

This study of drinking provides insights into changes and continuities in everyday life among St Petersburg's revolutionary workers. Drawing on a wide range of sources, it offers insight into issues of revolutionary change, class and gender probing the resiliency of alcohol-centred culture.

Overturning the view of early Russian prose fiction as a pale imitation of European models, this discussion locates the origins of the Russian novel in 18th century indigenous writing. Tracing the novel's development, it analyzes the prose of Fedor Emin, Mikhail Chulkov and Matvei Komarov.

Who ruled the countryside in late Imperial Russia? On the rare occasions that tsarist administrators dared pose the question so boldly, their discouraged answer was that peasants ruled. This title challenges this dominant paradigm of the closed village by investigating the ways peasants engaged tsarist laws and the local institutions.

An invaluable reference work on the the history and meaning of Republicanism in France.

Insider accounts of how policymakers reacted to dramatic developments in recent history.

San'ya, Tokyo's largest day-laborer quarter and the only one with lodgings, had been Oyama Shiro's home for twelve years when he took up his pen and began writing about his life as a resident of Tokyo's most notorious neighborhood. After completing a...

In The Socialist Car, eleven scholars from Europe and North America explore in vivid detail the interface between the motorcar and the state socialist countries of Eastern Europe, including the USSR.

This volume is a comprehensive review of current scientific knowledge about the world's largest and most famous living reptiles.

To meet the demand for a timely synthesis of monarch biology, conservation and outreach, Monarchs in a Changing World summarizes recent developments in scientific research, highlights challenges and responses to threats to monarch conservation, and showcases the many ways that monarchs are used in citizen science programs, outreach, and education.

Exploring the confrontation between atheism and the lower classes' traditional beliefs, this work offers a fresh interpretation of early Soviet efforts to create an atheistic, scientific society.

The "Age of Great Cities" erupted in East Central Europe in the last quarter of the 19th century as migrants poured into imperial and regional capitals. For citizens of places like Cracow, discovering and enacting metropolitan identities reinforced their break from a provincial past while affirming their belonging to "modern European civilization." Strolling the city streets, sipping coffee in cafés, riding the electric tram, and reading the popular press, Cracovians connected to modern big-city culture. In this lively account, Wood looks to the mass circulation illustrated press as well as to supporting evidence from memoirs and archives from the period to present Cracow as a case study that demonstrates the ways people identify with modern urban life.Wood's original study represents a major shift in thinking about Cracovian and East Central European history at the turn of the century. Challenging the previous scholarship that has focused on nationalism, Wood demonstrates that, in the realm of everyday life, urban identities were often more immediate and compelling. Becoming Metropolitan will appeal to scholars and students of urban history and the popular press, as well as to those interested in Polish history, Eastern European history, and modern European history.

Eagles have fascinated humans for millennia. For some, the glimpse of a distant eagle instantly becomes a treasured lifelong memory. Others may never encounter a wild eagle in their lifetime. This book was written by people who have dedicated years to...